Platform : The Fuhrman Tapes: Bad Memories

The so-called Fuhrman tapes have all but overshadowed the O.J. Simpson trial itself, at least in communities most affected by the racial slurs uttered on the interview tapes by former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman and his stories of deliberate police beatings in the 1970s. MARY REESE BOYKIN and VLADIMIR CERNA spoke with African American and Latino residents of Los Angeles about the tapes in the context of historic relations between the Police Department and minority communities.

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ESTELLA BROWN

Equal opportunity officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Watts

The Fuhrman tapes go beyond evidence in the O.J. Simpson case. They will help pending and expired [police brutality] cases in the community. It’s the type of information that we can use to request the Police Commission to look into cases. And we acknowledge that there are good police officers.

I feel that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The fact-or-fiction argument [that Fuhrman was perhaps making up incidents for the purposes of a novel] doesn’t count. Fuhrman’s comments are his thoughts.

For many of us African Americans, it’s our personal histories that make documentation like this significant. I had a cousin who was killed in the L.A. County Jail several years ago. One day he was fine; the next day his head was mush. We had no proof of what happened to him, couldn’t say who did it or how it was done.

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CARMEN RAMIREZ

Boyle Heights resident

I have lived here 28 years and don’t remember hearing of the incident [the severe beating of Latino suspects, allegedly in 1978] that Mark Fuhrman talks about. Back then I never really heard anything about racism with police officers. You could walk down the streets at 11 o’clock, 12 or 1 in the morning and nothing ever happened to you, not by criminals nor by police officers.

Today’s Police Department is worse than that of the past. I don’t know if it’s because of the gangs, but the situation has been deteriorating when it comes to racism with police officers.

One time I saw the police officers drag this guy from his car, right in front of my house. The police were hitting the guy’s forehead against the sidewalk. They grabbed him by the hair--he was already handcuffed but they kept hitting his forehead against the cement.

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CHARLES A. MAYFIELD Sr.

Physician, South Los Angeles

I worked in an emergency room in the early to mid-1960s that was contracted to serve the [LAPD] 77th Street Division. I heard police talk derogatorily, disrespectfully and boastfully to arrestees. When arrestees would ask, “Why are you arresting me?”, the police would give an answer like, “You’re under arrest for failure to follow a lawful command.” It was not uncommon to see the police apply a chokehold--they called it “choking them out”--or use a sap stick, causing lacerations to a person who was already injured, if the arrestee persisted in questioning.

Of course, there were citizens who followed the police to the emergency room and gave an account of the incident different from that of the police. But I don’t know of a single case during those years when anyone was vindicated on the claim they had made against the police.

There is no question in my mind that some of this same conduct occurs today. It won’t stop until the courts quit shielding the police and treat them as ordinary citizens.

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FRANK HOLOMAN

Owner and operator, Boulevard Cafe, Crenshaw district

I haven’t heard a black person say yet that he or she is surprised about the tapes. These tapes are like the Rodney King beating. It’s one thing to say it happened; it’s another to have proof because when it’s their word against yours, they are going to be believed.

I know many police officers; they eat here. The police [described] in the Fuhrman tapes are not the majority. The average cop does a good job. They talk to me, make me aware of what’s happening on the force.

Some black officers are bringing a class action suit against the LAPD officers’ union, the Police Protective League [charging that it discriminates against black officers]. That’s unprecedented because the rule in the department is that you don’t tell on another police officer because they are going to be vindictive.

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LEOCADIO RICO

Retired shoe factory worker, East Los Angeles

There has always been discrimation and abuse by the Police Department, but back in the 1960s and early ‘70s there was a lot more respect in people back them. Police didn’t need to get violent in comparison with today.

With the youth of today and guns, police have becore a lot more violent. So it’s like if they were inviting police officers to get violent with them. The youth of today don’t respect people, so it’s no surprise that there are more cases of abuse of force.

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‘JESSE’

(not his real name)

Former LAPD officer

I was an LAPD officer for 6 1/2 years during the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Back then, there were 7,000 officers on the force and only 200 were black.

When I was on the force, I was hated by my own community--some saw me as a turncoat or Uncle Tom for being an LAPD officer. I was hated by the guys on the force because I am black.

I remember an occasion when I stepped in when white officers used excessive force on kids who had stolen a car. I got in an altercation with my fellow officers. But people in the community came to the station to report what they saw on the street. The officers got some time off.

When I left the division, on the check-out list on my locker an officer had written [a racial slur]. It’s gotten better, but lots of the prejudice is still there.

Still, I consider being a police officer one of the greatest professions. It’s an awesome responsibility of life and death in your hands. But with this responsibility comes integrity.